Estimation of population exposure is a main component of human health risk assessment for environmental contaminants. Population-level exposure assessments require time-activity pattern distributions ...in relation to microenvironments where people spend their time. Societal trends may have influenced time-activity patterns since previous Canadian data were collected 15 years ago. The Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey 2 (CHAPS 2) was a national survey conducted in 2010–2011 to collect time-activity information from Canadians of all ages. Five urban and two rural locations were sampled using telephone surveys. Infants and children, key groups in risk assessment activities, were over-sampled. Survey participants (n = 5,011) provided time-activity information in 24-hour recall diaries and responded to supplemental questionnaires concerning potential exposures to specific pollutants, dwelling characteristics, and socio-economic factors. Results indicated that a majority of the time was spent indoors (88.9%), most of which was indoors at home, with limited time spent outdoors (5.8%) or in a vehicle (5.3%). Season, age, gender and rurality were significant predictors of time activity patterns. Compared to earlier data, adults reported spending more time indoors at home and adolescents reported spending less time outdoors, which could be indicative of broader societal trends. These findings have potentially important implications for assessment of exposure and risk. The CHAPS 2 data also provide much larger sample sizes to allow for improved precision and are more representative of infants, children and rural residents.
The increase in insecticide resistant mosquito populations necessitates the exploration of novel vector control intervention measures. Push-pull strategies for insect control have been successful ...when used in integrated crop pest management. Through the combinatory use of deterring and attracting stimuli, the abundance of insect pests can be changed in a given area. A push-pull strategy might also significantly reduce human-vector contacts and augment existing mosquito control strategies, e.g. through the combination of an attractive trapping system and a potent spatial repellent. Our approach includes the BG-Sentinel (BGS) trap in combination with catnip oil (Nepeta cataria), a known spatial repellent for Aedes aegypti. To impart a deterrent effect on mosquitoes at a distance, a homogenous and continuous dispersal of volatile repellent compounds is crucial. We have developed a repellent dispensing system that is easy to use and provides a homogenous dispersal of repellent in an air curtain. The use of five 9 V fans and custom-made repellent sachets containing 10% catnip essential oil created a repellent loaded air curtain that provided coverage of an area of 2 m2 (1.2 x 1.65 m). Air was sampled at four different heights in the curtain and analysed via thermal desorption (TD) and consecutive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Nepetalactone, the main constituent of the oil, was detected in air at a concentration range of 80 to 100 μg/m3 and the amounts were comparable at all four sampling positions. When a human volunteer was sitting behind the repellent curtain and a BGS trap was installed in front of the curtain in laboratory push-pull trials, Ae. aegypti landing collections decreased significantly by 50% compared to repellent-free controls. However, in a semi-field environment, comparable protective effects could not be achieved and further research on suitable repellent concentrations for outdoor implementation will be required.
Prior to World War I, Britain was at the center of global relations, utilizing tactics of diplomacy as it broke through the old alliances of European states. Historians have regularly interpreted ...these efforts as a reaction to the aggressive foreign policy of the German Empire. However, as Between Empire and Continent demonstrates, British foreign policy was in fact driven by a nexus of intra-British, continental and imperial motivations. Recreating the often heated public sphere of London at the turn of the twentieth century, this groundbreaking study carefully tracks the alliances, conflicts, and political maneuvering from which British foreign and security policy were born.
Prior to World War I, Britain was at the center of global relations, utilizing tactics of diplomacy as it broke through the old alliances of European states. Historians have regularly interpreted ...these efforts as a reaction to the aggressive foreign policy of the German Empire. However, asBetween Empire and Continent demonstrates, British foreign policy was in fact driven by a nexus of intra-British, continental and imperial motivations. Recreating the often heated public sphere of London at the turn of the twentieth century, this groundbreaking study carefully tracks the alliances, conflicts, and political maneuvering from which British foreign and security policy were born.
Between 1911 and 1914, the conflicts between Italy and the Ottoman Empire, together with the Balkan wars that followed, transformed European politics. With contributions from leading, international ...historians, this volume offers a comprehensive account of the wars before the Great War and surveys the impact of these conflicts on European diplomacy, military planning, popular opinion and their role in undermining international stability in the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War. Placing these conflicts at the centre of European history, the authors provide fresh insights on the origins of World War I, emphasizing the importance of developments on the European periphery in driving change across the continent. Nation and empire, great powers and small states, Christian and Muslim, violent and peaceful, civilized and barbaric - the book evaluates core issues which defined European politics to show how they were encapsulated in the wars before the Great War.
Laser bow systems are used for intervention guidance by steering laser rays. Such systems have shown applications in biopsy, nasal surgeries, drainage, pain therapy. In this paper, we introduce an ...image-based laser guided CT intervention. Instead of relying on traditional laser bow rigidly mounted to the CT scanner, our approach performs registration making use of a patient tracker in image as well as CT data to find the orientation of laser bow with respect to the CT data. The image is acquired by a camera rigidly connected to the laser bow. The proposed approach allows movability to the laser bow system without compromising on accuracy. Using camera allows real-time view of the intervention and can be used for futuristic applications.
Abstract Objective The aim of the present study was to examine the immune-modulating effect of two different fat blends enriched with a low dose of anti- or proinflammatory polyunsaturated fatty ...acids on the fatty acid status and subsequently on the immune response of healthy volunteers. Methods Thirty healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to group A (anti-inflammatory blend rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids: α-linolenic acid, 240 mg/d; eicosapentaenoic acid, 120 mg/d; stearidonic acid, 49 mg/d; and γ-linolenic acid, 73 mg/d) or group B (arachidonic acid, 40 mg/d; containing an inflammatory fat blend) for a 2-wk dietary supplementation period. Concentrations of interleukin-8, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, prostaglandins E1 and E2 , and leukotriene B4 were investigated before, after 2 wk of supplementation, and 2 wk after stopping supplementation using a whole blood ex vivo lipopolysaccharide-stimulation assay. Results Plasma concentrations of α-linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid were significantly increased in group A. In addition, dietary fat blends influenced eicosapentaenoic acid concentration in erythrocyte membranes. Supplementation of the fat blends resulted in contrasting effects on the expression of lipid mediators and cytokines after ex vivo lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Release of prostaglandin E1 and leukotriene B4 were significantly decreased in group A, whereas prostaglandin E2 and interleukin-10 concentrations were significantly increased in group B. No effect on interleukin-8 or tumor necrosis factor-α release was found after supplementation with either fat blend. Conclusions These results show an immune-modulating effect of a low-dose dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation. However, further studies regarding fat-blend composition and period of supplementation in patients with inflammatory conditions are required.
Incorporating novel food sources into their diet is crucial for animals in changing environments. Although the utilization of novel food sources can be learned individually, learning socially from ...experienced conspecifics may facilitate this task and enable a transmission of foraging-related innovations across a population. In anthropogenically modified habitats, bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) frequently adapt their feeding strategy to novel food sources, and corresponding social learning processes have been experimentally demonstrated in frugivorous and animalivorous species. However, comparable experiments are lacking for nectarivorous flower-visiting bats, even though their utilization of novel food sources in anthropogenically altered habitats is often observed and even discussed as the reason why bats are able to live in some areas. In the present study, we investigated whether adult flower-visiting bats may benefit from social information when learning about a novel food source. We conducted a demonstrator–observer dyad with wild Pallas’ long-tongued bats (
Glossophaga soricina
; Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) and hypothesized that naïve individuals would learn to exploit a novel food source faster when accompanied by an experienced demonstrator bat. Our results support this hypothesis and demonstrate flower-visiting bats to be capable of using social information to expand their dietary repertoire.
Europa vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg: Im Zentrum der internationalen und globalen Beziehungen agiert die Weltmacht Großbritannien. Auf allen Ebenen der Diplomatie versucht es die alten Bündnisse der ...europäischen Staaten aufzubrechen. Die Geschichtswissenschaft hat diese Bemühungen bisher als Reaktionen auf die aggressive Außenpolitik des Deutschen Kaiserreiches interpretiert. Andreas Rose kann dagegen aufzeigen, wie sehr die englische Außenpolitik von ganz anderen Interessen getrieben wurde: innerbritischen, kontinentalen und imperialen. Der Autor entwirft den politischen Raum Londons, in dem über außen- und sicherheitspolitische Maßnahmen intensiv diskutiert wurde und aus dem heraus Entscheidungen getroffen wurden. Auf breiter Quellenlage bezieht er damit erstmals systematisch die komplexe Innenseite britischen Außenverhaltens mit ein und betrachtet darüber hinaus das Spannungsverhältnis imperialer und europäischer Interessen und Motive. Dabei wird deutlich, dass von einer parteiübergreifenden Kontinuität ebenso wenig die Rede sein kann, wie von einer überwiegend altruistischen Balancepolitik. Gerade die zunehmende Unterstützung Russlands, namentlich auf dem Balkan, brachte keine gleichgewichtspolitische Entlastung, sondern schuf ein zusätzliches Gefahrenpotential, welches sich bis 1914 nicht mehr beruhigen sollte.
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